Marina Oneshot Book

Baby Steps

^^ Natalia Andrea Elizabeth Bishop, age 5

"Come on, pumpkin, we have to get you in your clothes," Maya groaned in frustration as she chased her five year old daughter around the apartment.

"No! Mommy, no!" The small blonde shrieked as she continued to run through each room of the apartment, and there were not a lot of rooms. "No school!"

Maya sighed, sitting down on the sofa in the living room. Who knew having a child was going to be so much work, especially when your wife is on the night shift at the hospital because a laboring mom came in during the night without any warning, like most pregnancies and births do.

"Natalia Andrea Elizabeth Bishop, get over here right now!" Maya demanded, using her daughter's full name. When she heard the soft footsteps of her daughter, she smirked, satisfied with how she handled that.

Maya was able to get Natalia ready for school in the next five minutes, handing her daughter a cream cheese bagel and a bottle of water to drink in the car on the way to school.

"Mommy?" She asked in between bites. "Will Mama be home when we come back tonight?"

Maya smiled at her little mini-me. "Yes pumpkin, Mama will be home. Do you want Mama to pick you up or do you want to come to the station after school?"

Natalia thought for a moment. Go home to her Mama or see all of her Mommy's friends and visit the fire trucks? "Station! I want to play Yahtzee with Uncle Trav again, and beat him!"

When Natalia was born, Carina knew that she and Maya would have the blood bond that would make them closer than ever. And she was right. Natalia was born after eight hours of intense labor, and she took to Maya right away. Carina was not jealous or anything. She quite liked watching Maya with their daughter, because she brought out a different side of Maya that was not seen so often.

Andy was the first to point out how alike Natalia and Maya were, not only in looks, but in personality as well. Natalia inherited Maya's entire personality, starting with her love of running all the way to Maya's deep blue eyes and blonde hair.

Carina loved watching Natalia. It was like watching Maya, but a younger Maya. And the only reason why Maya even gave birth to their daughter was because Carina was so used to delivering other mother's babies, that she was a bit hesitant to birth her own child. Travis graciously accepted the invitation to be the sperm donor for the happy couple, and Maya's personality changed yet again when she gave birth to Natalia.

As if Carina had not changed Maya, you could tell that Natalia did even more. Maya's hard exterior kept being broken through and it was a nice change from being an Olympic gold medalist with all the pressure from her father added on.

Marcus Bishop went on to being divorced and separated from his three kids, all within a year. His wife, Marie, had decided that she had enough of his silent abuse, and took him to court. He was found guilty. The three Bishop kids had to testify, of course, but the judge still found him guilty. Maya was hesitant about testifying at first, but if it benefits her family, she does it. And she did it to protect her two younger siblings, Mason and Madison.

When Natalia was born, Maya had just gotten back in contact with her mother, who had taken a sabbatical to Greece and was unreachable for months. She was ecstatic to meet her granddaughter, and knew how good this was for her own daughter. Marie knew how much pressure Maya had endured when she still lived at home, especially throughout high school while she trained rigorously for the olympics.

"Taylor will walk you to the station after school, okay?" Maya told her daughter as she referred to the teacher's assistant in her class. Natalia nodded and placed a soft kiss on her mom's cheek. "Love you, Talia! Have a good day!"